


Wilting Hope

by blackrose_17



Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo Stories [7]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, One sided Ra/Tim, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackrose_17/pseuds/blackrose_17
Summary: Tim Drake held onto the hope that his family would save him from Mr. Oz it wasn't until Ra found him that hope died. Now thanks to Slade Wilson the Bat-family knows the truth and now they need to save Tim from Ra and fix what has been broken between them. While Conner and Dick find themselves at a crossroads for their feelings for Tim and competing against one another to win Tim's heart.
Relationships: Cassie Sandsmark/Cassandra Cain, Dick Grayson/Tim Drake, Duke Thomas/Bart Allen, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Owens & Zeddmore Washington & Prudence Wood, Tim Drake/Dick Grayson/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo Stories [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950631
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63





	Wilting Hope

**Author's Note:**

> So I had hoped to have this full story finished before the end of this round of the hurt/comfort bingo sadly with a power outage and being sick that was not to be. I have a few more chapters mostly written and hope to post the following chapters soon.   
> This was written for the hurt/comfort prompt: extortion

Timothy Drake-Wayne aka Red Robin clung to hope, hope that his family and friends would soon come for him. To rescue him from this hell he was trapped in. "They will come and they will prove Oz wrong," Tim repeated to himself even as time moved on and his hope began to grow smaller and smaller each day he remained trapped.

"They will come, they have to." Tim wondered how much longer he could keep lying to himself.

* * *

_Gotham City_

The last thing Nightwing wanted to encounter on a cool night in Gotham on top of a roof was Slade Wilson.

"What do you want Slade?" Dick Grayson wasn't in the mood to deal with Deathstroke not when an anniversary was so close, one that he didn't wish was coming. The day he lost someone he loved so deeply had been taken from him and their relationship had been broken at the time. Guilt tinged his memories when he thought of Tim.

"I just thought I would stop by and get my thank you for helping Ra retrieve something precious to him and to you as well back from where he had been locked away." Slade watched Dick with knowing eyes and he could see the confusion in his body language. "Unless he didn't tell you." Slade’s grin was wicked as he watched the first Robin, Nightwing and occasionally Batman freeze.

"What are you talking about?" Dick demanded, he knew that help was on its way Oracle had been listening to all their comms and she no doubt alerted the others that Slade was in Gotham.

"Ra paid me to help him rescue Timothy Drake-Wayne aka Red Robin from the prison he has been trapped in since he was "killed"," Slade informed him.

Dick froze before snarling out, "You're lying!"

"No, I'm not. I have no reason to lie. But you should have seen the look on the kid's face when he realized that it was Ra who had saved him and not his family." Slade smiled as he saw his barb hit home. "Locked away in a prison, void of any touch, just himself for company clinging to the hope that his family will be looking for him, that they will come to save him only to learn that they accepted his death even though there wasn't a body and moved on. It crushed the kid to learn that Ra cared more about him than his so-called family."

Dick thinks it would have hurt less if Slade had stabbed him in his chest then. "I don't believe you."

"I expect nothing else so see for yourself." Slide tossed a flash drive at Dick, he wasn't surprised that the younger man caught it, "I'll be waiting for your call and you might want to call those friends of his. The baby bird might not come willing with you but he will for them."

Staring at the flash drive in his hands Dick didn't bother to give chase, he couldn't move if he wanted to. Slade had to be lying.

Didn't he?

* * *

Dick was the first to arrive at the Batcave.

"Do you think Slade was telling the truth?" Barbara asked through the comm. She had been silent on his ride home, everyone had been.

"I want to believe he is lying to us. The problem is there is nothing for him to gain from it." Dick knew Slade well and if there was nothing in it for him unless he just wanted to mess with them but that wasn't his style.

Taking a deep breath Dick plugged in the flash drive and he felt vile building up in his throat as he watched the video play of a pale and skinny Tim leaning into Ra's touch as the Demon Head carried Tim out of a prison cell. Three assassins hovering close by watching over their leader but Dick was certain that he could see the worry in their eyes as they glanced at Tim. Slade appeared wiping his blade off, something was said as Ra turned and looked at where the camera had to be and Dick felt rage fill him as the immortal mouthed,

' _He is mine now and I thank you for your carelessness.'_

Dick nearly jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder, he looked up to see Bruce's jaw clenched and fire burning in his eyes. Only Bruce, Dick, Barbara and Alfred knew truly how Tim saved Bruce not just from being lost in time but also when the darkness of losing Jason consumed Bruce and they nearly lost him to that. If Tim hadn't been there to pull him out there would be no Batman.

"We will save Tim," Bruce vowed.

Dick wanted to believe him but there was a nagging part of him that couldn't. They had failed Tim so many times. "What if it is too late? Who knows how long Ra has had Tim? And we believed that he was dead, we moved on, we didn't look for him. We were so willing to believe that he was dead when both Jason and Damian returned to us. What does that say about us?" Dick vowed his deep fear.

Bruce's grip tightens for a second before he loosened it, "I know that we haven't treated Tim the way he should have. I kept him at arm's length because I wasn't ready to have another child in my life. It took too long before I realized that Tim was my son, I never told him. I know things were rough with Jason and Damian both wanting to kill him and then what happened when I was lost. Tim flew away from us and I foolishly hoped that we would have time to bring Tim back to us. Tim is alive and while we don't know what Ra has told him, we will save him and we will prove to him that we love him and he is part of our family."

There was no missing the conviction in Bruce's voice and that gave Dick confidence. _'Hang on baby bird we are coming for you.'_

* * *

The meeting with Tim's friends was full of tension. Conner, Bart and Cassie had distanced themselves from the Titians after Damian became a part of the team. They didn't fully trust him give his history with Tim. Tim was their Robin and they wouldn't accept a new one. Tim's "death" only drove that wedge between them further. The only one they would talk to is Cass and a big part of that had to do with Cass and Cassie dating.

Jason was on edge learning that their baby bird was in the hands of Ra had him on edge. He was grateful that both Roy and Kory were here with him. They hadn't left his side since he told them about the fact that Tim is alive and in the hands of Ra.

"Do not worry beloved we will save him," Kory whispered as she took Jason's hand in hers.

Jason took a shuddering breath as he clung to her hand and leaned into Roy's hold.

It didn't take long for the Titans or Young Justice as they were back to call themselves arrived at the Bat cave.

Conner Kent stood before them arms crossed over his chest and looking less than happy at being around the bats. Cassie and surprisingly Bart looked a little happier if the way the speedster was smiling at Duke.

"So what was the big emergency that you needed to talk to us about?" Conner growled out he didn't want to spend any more time with the Bats than he had to. He understood why Cassie and now Bart did it was no secret that Cassie and Cass had a crush on each other but it surprised him when Bart developed one on Duke.

Dick didn't say anything he just turned on the video feed and he watched as the trio paled.

Once the video finished playing Conner turned and he looked Dick in the eyes, "We will help you save Tim and then he is coming home with us."

While he was grateful for their help there was no way that Dick was allowing them - especially Conner - to take Tim away from him again. The sight of Cass shaking her head stopped him from starting a fight with Conner, now wasn't the time they had to save Tim from Ra.

* * *

"You know Ra won't be happy if he figures out that it was you who betrayed him," Slade commented as he looked at the trio of assassins in front of him.

Crossing his arms over his chest Z met Slade's gaze, "Just like you don't want anyone to know that Timothy Drake-Wayne is your nephew and that you care about him." Owens and Pru nodded from their spot behind Z. Hadn't that been a shock to learn that Tim was related to Slade Wilson of all people.

Slade had never been a fan of extortion but Tim was the only child of his sister Janet and he was willing to let it go this time. Anyone was better for Tim than Ra. They couldn't save Tim, not without facing the wrath of Ra but given the Bats have no issue in doing so and that Tim's friends were desperate to save him well they would happily take on the Ra and his league while they would be safe from his rage and vengeance.


End file.
